Anniversaries

Births: Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford, statesman, 1676; Joseph- Michel Montgolfier, balloonist, 1740; Joseph Christoph Kessler (Kotzler), pianist and composer, 1800; Prince Albert, Consort to Queen Victoria, 1819; Lee De Forest, radio and television inventor, 1873; John Buchan, first Baron Tweedsmuir, Governor- General of Canada and novelist, 1875; Guillaume Apollinaire (Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitsky), poet, 1880; Jules Romains (Louis-Henri Jean Farigoule), novelist, playwright and poet, 1885; Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood, novelist, 1904.

Deaths: Ottakar II, King of Bohemia, killed in battle 1278; Frans Hals, painter, 1666; Louis-Philippe, "Citizen King" of France, 1850; Hermann Goldschmidt, painter and astronomer, 1866; Baron Hendrik Leys, painter, 1869; Karl Wilhelm, choral director and composer of Die Wacht am Rhein, 1873; George Manville Fenn, novelist, 1909; William James, psychologist and philosopher, 1910; Lon (Alonso) Chaney, actor, 1930; Frank (James Thomas) Harris, editor and writer, 1931; Ralph Vaughan Williams, composer, 1958; Naomi Ellington Jacob, novelist, 1964; Sir Francis Charles Chichester, aviator and yachtsman, 1972; Charles Augustus Lindbergh, pioneer aviator, 1974; Charles Boyer, actor, 1978.

On this day: Julius Caesar landed in Britain, 55 BC; King Edward III, aided by the Black Prince, his son, defeated the French at the Battle of Crecy, 1346; Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah was first performed, Birmingham Festival, 1846; Krakatoa, the island volcano, began erupting, killing over 36,000 people, 1883; under the 19th Amendment women in the United States were granted the right to vote, 1920; the Anglo-Egyptian alliance was signed, 1936; the XXth Olympic Games opened in Munich, 1972; Cardinal Albino Luciani was elected Pope John Paul I, 1978.

Today is the Feast Day of St Bregwine, archbishop of Canterbury, St Elizabeth Bichier des Ages, St Herluin, St John Wall, St Mary Desmaisieres, St Pandonia and St Teresa Jornet Ihars.